I have winter stored a few cars in the past but this winter is the first time storing with a trickle charger. In the past, I would just disconnect the battery and reconnect it when spring rolls around. Over this summer, I purchased a CTEK MUS 4.3 because my car wasn't getting much action and as a result, battery was getting drained. In any case, here are my questions:

1. Should I disconnect and remove the battery from the car and trickle charge it in the basement? Or can I leave the battery in the car and trickle charge it in my garage?
2. If I can leave the battery inside the car, should I disconnect it?
3. Any issues with running a CTEK in my garage where temp can go as low as -25C (-13F)?

Thanks

 

It's best to store the battery in a controlled and stable temperature at around 20C.
Lower temperatures needs higher charging voltage so if you are going to store it in the garage make sure you set the charger to the winter mode.
I don't think it matters much if it's connected to the car or not.

 

I always disconnect the battery from the vehicle connections, it's probably fine either way but I think there is less of a chance having electrical issues that way.

 

i always leave it connected with the hood propped up just a little bit, I can still get the car cover on

 

Thanks for the reply. I will leave it in the garage and just put it in winter mode.

 

I was actually going to ask the same exact questions since this will be my 1st time ever storing a car for the winter too. 4 years of driving the S2k in the Chicago winters is enough for me.

 

i use a CTEK unit connected to the positive terminal of the battery and the negative connected to the ground position on the rear of the engine's intake. i leave the hood open a touch. car cover on.

i still think winter sucks.

darcy

 

Bingo, that's what they made South Carolina for. I was driving top-down in a short-sleeve shirt yesterday at lunch time and then (thank you Global Warming) it snows last night. But it's all melted now and I'll be back in short sleeves by the weekend.

If it were me I would not bother with a trickle charger. I would just start the car every couple weeks and let it idle for a while. That's not only good for the battery it's good for the engine. In the old days, car batteries were called "traction batteries" which is a type of battery that works best with cycles of significant discharge followed by immediate recharge. They seriously dislike trickle charging, which is why everybody makes fancy high-tech computerized chargers trying to get around the fact that trickle-charging is just not good for them. Other batteries love trickle-charging, like the ones in your home alarm system or those wet cells at the telephone exchange, but not car batteries.

Think about it - when's the last time you saw any car battery store with trickle-chargers on their batteries? I'm sure some of those batteries have been on the shelf for a couple months, but they never trickle-charge them. Wouldn't they want to keep them "topped up"? Are they just lazy, or do they know something we don't?